Murray records first win since hip surgery
Andy Murray scored an emphatic 6-0, 6-1 victory against Frenchman Imran Sibille in the Rafa Nadal Open first round in Mallorca.
Murray has dropped down to Challenger level this week to gain match practice ahead of his return to the ATP tour in Zhuhai next month.
The extremely one-sided contest was a clear mismatch, with the unranked 17-year-old – a trainee at the Rafa Nadal Academy – unable to make any inroads into Murray's game.
With no ATP ranking (and an ITF ranking of 2792), Sibille was as expected outmatched from the very beginning. Murray started the first set with an ace and never looked back, losing only three points on his way to a 6-0 scoreline in just 19 minutes.
The second set was going much the same way, with Murray dominating the play and winning all the games. But much to the crowd's relief Sibille did finally get on the scoreboard in the penultimate game before the Brit closed out the match.
Murray is due to take on third seed and world number 116 Norbert Gombos in the next round, which should give a much clearer indication of his form.
Murray has dropped down to Challenger level this week to gain match practice ahead of his return to the ATP tour in Zhuhai next month.
The extremely one-sided contest was a clear mismatch, with the unranked 17-year-old – a trainee at the Rafa Nadal Academy – unable to make any inroads into Murray's game.
With no ATP ranking (and an ITF ranking of 2792), Sibille was as expected outmatched from the very beginning. Murray started the first set with an ace and never looked back, losing only three points on his way to a 6-0 scoreline in just 19 minutes.
The second set was going much the same way, with Murray dominating the play and winning all the games. But much to the crowd's relief Sibille did finally get on the scoreboard in the penultimate game before the Brit closed out the match.
Murray is due to take on third seed and world number 116 Norbert Gombos in the next round, which should give a much clearer indication of his form.
add comment | 5 comments
Thanks for the report Katie. Couldn't see the match properly because of the terrible picture. Feel rather sorry for Sabille although it won't do him any harm to play against the best! Gombos, as you say, should give us a better idea of just where Andy is, particularly as he managed to take a few games off Kyrgios in Washington.
August 26, 2019, 09:07 pm
By Aileen
By Aileen
Feel the headline should read "first SINGLES win" - [I'm not yet ready to just airbrush out his doubles success at Queens].
Fingers crossed he can use these matches to re-tune his singles game.
Fingers crossed he can use these matches to re-tune his singles game.
August 26, 2019, 11:07 pm
By matchpoint
By matchpoint
Thanks for the report and the pic Katie
August 27, 2019, 08:30 am
By ChrisMac
By ChrisMac
Id guess Andy gave this guy a game. No need to humiliate the young chap on his first Challenger match.
August 27, 2019, 05:04 pm
By BigNose
By BigNose
Id guess Andy gave this guy a game. No need to humiliate the young chap on his first Challenger match.
When I finally managed to see a replay, I felt that Andy was fairly kind to him, certainly in the second set.
August 27, 2019, 07:35 pm
By Aileen
By Aileen